1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for transmitting/receiving emergency rescue signals, and more particularly to an emergency rescue request apparatus and method capable of quickly requesting a rescue by means of Ultra-Wideband (UWB) signals in an emergency, regardless of time and place.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the relatively recent advent of mobile communications, there has been a rise in the use of mobile communication terminals to report emergencies. However, in emergency situations, the person reporting the emergency over a mobile terminal to a rescue team, is usually confused and cannot sufficiently explain his location. This is especially true where an emergency occurs at a place that is not precisely recognized by the reporter. Therefore, the reporter may not report the emergency in enough time to help the situation.
Accordingly, a position location service using a mobile communication terminal is provided. In particular, the following methods have been developed to solve the problem where the reporter has difficulty determining his position and thus, location.
A position location service using a mobile communication terminal may be implemented by using a cell position registered in a Home Location Register (HLR) and using position information from a Global Positioning System (GPS). In addition, the position location service may use a network-based method, with a dedicated network, a method (Angle Of Arrival: AOA) for calculating the position of a mobile communication terminal by measuring the arrival angle of a signal inputted from the mobile communication terminal, and a method (Time Of Arrival: TOA) using time of arrival of electric waves. Moreover, the position location service may also use a hybrid scheme merging two methods to determine a more precise position.
The aforementioned methods are typical technologies for measuring the position of a mobile communication terminal in current mobile communication systems together with GPS, and have a resolution of only several hundreds to dozens of meters because of frequency characteristic limitations and the multi-path characteristics of a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA).
In the prior art, when an emergency occurs as described above, a user has to notify the proper authorities directly with a mobile communication terminal. However, in some emergencies such as a building collapsing, a landslide or a kidnapping, the user cannot use the mobile terminal. In addition, when an emergency occurs in a blanket area, such as where a building collapses, it is difficult to determine the user's position because electric waves are not transmitted through the rubble, and the resolution is very low.
For example, in the prior art, when a victim leaves a mobile communication service area and gets lost in the mountains, or when a mountain disaster or forest fire occurs, it is impossible to notify the authorities of the emergency or determine the victim's exact position by the conventional methods.